Wireless cable router, which one?

[Mr. Smith]

As some of you know I've moved into my own house and have only just sorted the internet out. It's through cable (telewest/virgin) and they only offer wired routers as wireless routers comprimise the guaranteed line speed.

I don't fancy running wires all over the house for various rooms and what not, plus one of my housemates only uses his lappy.

SO I need a wireless cable router... Maybe £40, maybe more if its worth it? I don't have a clue!

Thanks peeps

 

[Rastalovich]

Something like a Linksys WRT54G.something.something.

Think the very newer models have the better wireless stuff in them, although I did hear that the old ones were firmable upto something close - pfft.

I got 1, zero issues.

 

[nrage]

I have the same connection, using an old wired cable modem with no router (I think).

I bought one of these:

http://www.edimax.com/en/produce_detail.php?pd_id=11&pl1_id=3&pl2_id=18

http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=603714

The router lives in the lounge/living room downstairs and I get 80% signal upstairs (almost directly above). My flatmate gets good signal in his room (above and to the side).

The reason I went with that one was that it was cheap and based on Realtek chipset (which matched my wireless receiver). I heard this could improve performance. It has all the features you'd expect, including QoS etc.

I'm only on the 2mb broadband and speeds come and go based on the time of the day but I can't complain about the wireless side of things.

Edit:

If you think you'll have signal problems look for one with two or more aerials with "super-g" (which is where you have 2 connections to the router instead of one, one for upload, one for download, effectively doubling bandwidth).

Something else. I notice many routers come setup on channel 11, which is a problem if you have several routers nearby as you get interference. Find out what routers are nearby and what channels they use then check here and you'll find that there are only a few non-overlapping channels. I use channel 6 (which is the next most common, as it does not overlap with channel 11) also channel 1 is an option.

 

[Mr. Smith]

Thanks Rast, I'll have a look at that.

If you think you'll have signal problems look for one with two or more aerials with "super-g" (which is where you have 2 connections to the router instead of one, one for upload, one for download, effectively doubling bandwidth).

nrage or anyone, super g sounds good, any particular routers? Do i need super g receivers for the pcs for this?

My line is guaranteed 4mb, constant, not an 'up to'.

I guess - does it really matter what wireless router I use? I don't want to buy a shoddy router if it will reduce the speed...

Thanks again peeps

 

[nrage]

nrage or anyone, super g sounds good, any particular routers? Do i need super g receivers for the pcs for this?

My line is guaranteed 4mb, constant, not an 'up to'.

I guess - does it really matter what wireless router I use? I don't want to buy a shoddy router if it will reduce the speed...

Thanks again peeps

The EdiMax super-g (aka MIMO) model seems to be this one:

http://www.edimax.com/en/produce_detail.php?pd_id=13&pl1_id=3&pl2_id=18

Note the 3 antenna (Two RX and One TX). I think super-g routers will all have 2 or more antenna.

I'm not necessarily recommending this particular model/brand, but my EdiMax router has worked ok for me.

I would need another router to test if either was degrading performance but as standard 802.11g wireless is 54mbit/s and your connection is only 4mbit/s it seems like the router would have to be pretty bad to cause problems.

Before I bought this one my flat did have an older linksys router which was constantly requiring a reset/reboot to fix issues. My EdiMax hasn't needed a reboot in the 2-3 months I've had it.

I think you do need special receivers for super-g/mimo. I'm guessing the receiver needs 2+ antenna to bind the two 802.11g channels at the same time. I believe you can use a normal 802.11g receiver with a super-g you just don't get any benefit over a normal router.

Edit: Except you might get better signal, but maybe not as the PC's receiver has to 'send' as well and will only do so at normal levels. So, unless the super-g router has a better receiver as well...

I would only bother with super-g if you thought you were going to have signal strength issues. I doubt you will see much of an improvement in speed (of internet traffic) as normal 802.11g speeds are more than sufficient as it is. However, if you're transferring files from one pc to another via wireless then super-g should out perform normal.

Edit: You could look at 802.11n if you want to be cutting edge. I'm not sure how available, or how expensive N hardware is and you'd likely have to buy new receivers for all PCs.

 

[Rastalovich]

The SuperG (or some manufs have gotten away with G+) gives u the 108mbps as opposed to the 54 u get with G.

As with needing a wireless G adaptor/pci card to use 54mbps, u`ll need an adaptor/card capable of wireless G+/SuperG to do 108.

Of course the prices are higher, but I like the idea of these wireless "n" thingies that boast 300mbps (3 ariel) .. hmmm Same here tho, u`d need an access point that does "n" and an adaptor card that does "n".

Anywho, Linksys is personal, Edimax have exploded onto the scene with adaptors and access points. MSI do some things too. Think the point is, from top price to the cheap, they seem to have access to some reference tech and are using it. Dlink used to be popular, and netgear`s own stuff, didn`t see much of their stuff when I just looked - they`re about tho.

 

[Mr. Smith]

Nice info guys

I don't think I'll go for 'n' due to cost, but super-g/mimo should be worth it as we will be having lans with eachother and sharing files... Also, its an old Victorian house we're renting and I imagine there will be signal issues as all the walls are solid.

My parents house our wireless (linksys) kept needing to be reset and was a PITA.

I imagine usage will be 2/3 of us d/l things and 2/3 wanting to game online so a reasonable amount of traffic.

I have plenty to look into now but Rast, you refer to access point, what do you mean?

 

[Rastalovich]

I have plenty to look into now but Rast, you refer to access point, what do you mean?

Merely what u`r adaptor/card will talk to in order to go on the net/network, in u`r case u`r wireless router.

 

[Mr. Smith]

OK... mimo routers seem to cost anything from £40-80, super g, g+ same...

So if I got this I'd need this?

 

[Rastalovich]

Pretty much.

B4 u posted that, I was about to point u at http://www.scan.co.uk/todayonly/ and to scroll down to the networking offers.

Saw an Edimax thingy including adaptor for ~£43.

 

[Mr. Smith]

Saw an Edimax thingy including adaptor for ~£43.

Can't see anything in the Wireless Cable/Broadband Routers section??? Am I blind?

I'm a wee bit confused, do i need a cable/broadband router or an asdl/cable router? Sorry for the noobness here.

 

[nrage]

Can't see anything in the Wireless Cable/Broadband Routers section??? Am I blind?

I must be too...

I'm a wee bit confused, do i need a cable/broadband router or an asdl/cable router? Sorry for the noobness here.

They (retailers) mix and match terms like crazy which is really confusing. You want a wireless ("access point"/"router") without a modem. They typically call these "broadband routers".

Wireless access points with ADSL modems included are typically called "ADSL routers".

Wireless access points with Cable modems included are much rarer (EdiMax doesn't make one as far as I can see) but can be called "cable routers", though because they are less common that term can be used to describe a "broadband router".

If the specs talk about LAN and WAN ports as being "10/100 UTP" or "10/100BaseT Fast Ethernet" or similar and do not mention them being "RJ-11" or "for ADSL" or "cable" then I would take that as a strong indication that it's what you want.

 

[Rastalovich]

U both must be, I just went back to it again.

Wireless Bundles

Edimax Bundle AR-7084GA ADSL2 11g (54Mbs) Modem Router + Edimax EW-7318USg USB2.0 High Gain Adapter £33.50 £39.36

£43 is probably the regular price.

ADSL mind u.

 

[Mr. Smith]

I'm more confused now than ever!

I thought this would be ok and work but now I just don't know.

I mean, do I need a cable modem too?

Looking at the router Virgin supplied, it has one LAN port, one USB port and one coaxial imput. The coaxial cable is the most important as this is the cable that comes out of the wall that must go into the new wireless router for me to get a the net.

Can someone just link me to a router that will 100% work with Telewest/Virgin cable broadband? Something around £30-50 that should be decent. As I only have a 4mb line I decided there is no real need for anything fancy.

Sorry for being a pita and thanks

 

[nrage]

I'm more confused now than ever!

I thought this would be ok and work but now I just don't know.

It will work fine. On the extended specs page I see:

1 x network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45 ( WAN )

4 x network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45

1 x network - Radio-Ethernet

that last one is a bit odd, it must indicate the wireless interface. The one marked WAN is the port you connect a cable modem to.

I mean, do I need a cable modem too?

Yes. The router above is only a router with no modem included.

Looking at the router Virgin supplied, it has one LAN port, one USB port and one coaxial imput. The coaxial cable is the most important as this is the cable that comes out of the wall that must go into the new wireless router for me to get a the net.

The box Virgin supplied is a cable modem, I don't think it is a 'router'. A routers basic job is to correctly route internet packets to/from N computers via one external IP. eg, you have two computers A and B on your wireless network. A connects to www.hotmail.com and B connects to overclock3d.net. According to hotmail and overclocker the same IP has connected to them, the IP of the internet connection, so they both send packets to that IP. The router will ensure all packets from hotmail go to machine A and all packets from overclocker go to B, it routes them according to the machine which requested them.

The way I have it set up at home is the coax cable goes into the cable modem, and you connect the LAN port to the wireless router's WAN port (it will be marked differently to the other 4 LAN ports). Any normal network cable will do, you get one with the router which will work fine.

Ignore the USB port on the cable modem.

Then, you can plug PC's into one of the 4 LAN ports on the router, or more likely in your case, just use wireless.

One further complication you may have is that the cable connection may be locked to a specific MAC address. A MAC address is a unique hardware identifier for your network card in your PC. Typically the cable modem picks up the MAC address when you connect it directly to your PC but as you're connecting the modem to the wireless router instead you will need to tell the router what your MAC address is.

My wireless router has a clever feature where you connect the PC to one of the LAN ports on the wireless router and using the web interface to the router click a button and it copies the MAC address from the PC to the wireless router. Then, when you connect the router to the modem, the router will tell the modem your MAC address and everything will work as required.

You can find out your MAC address by typing "ipconfig /all" in a command prompt.

Can someone just link me to a router that will 100% work with Telewest/Virgin cable broadband? Something around £30-50 that should be decent. As I only have a 4mb line I decided there is no real need for anything fancy.

Sorry for being a pita and thanks

The one you linked above will do the job. It is Linksys and I had trouble with a Linksys, once, but that's not exactly a good enough statistical sample to base a decision on.

 

[Rastalovich]

Seen usb ports on these b4, are they equiv to the old ones that had serial ports ?

 

[Mr. Smith]

Nice one nrage - repped for your continued input.

I can set networks up but I have never had to buy the hardware, it's always just been in the house (parents bought it), now I'm not at home I realised I don't have a scooby what works with what lol.

I too have had issues with linksys (parents used linksys, always dropping out and needing resetting) so hmmmm...

So is there a router that has a cable modem in it already? I don't/can't have multiple boxes coming out of the wall due to the placement of the coax, just need one magic router box that has cable modem, good signal (so I imagine the routers with 2+ antenna)

I'd like to get it ordered today tbh

Edit: Rast reps too tbh

Edit 2: Rast, you just went form 'will be famous soon enough' to 'has a spectacular aura' lol

 

[nrage]

Seen usb ports on these b4, are they equiv to the old ones that had serial ports ?

I've never used one with a serial port. The USB port and LAN port are for the same thing, connecting 1 PC to the modem. You can use either one or the other but not both - hence it isn't a router as it can only handle the 1 PC.

 

[nrage]

Nice one nrage - repped for your continued input.

Cheers

So is there a router that has a cable modem in it already? I don't/can't have multiple boxes coming out of the wall due to the placement of the coax, just need one magic router box that has cable modem, good signal (so I imagine the routers with 2+ antenna)

I did look for a router with cable modem included but they are few and far between and also more expensive than their ADSL counterparts (which is no use to you but I thought that was interesting).

When you say you can't have multiple boxes coming out of the wall what do you mean?

I don't think there is any real difference between using one combined cable modem/router box, to using two boxes one cable modem and one router box, except the obvious fact that there are 2 boxes and both require power.

I'm imagining the cable modem connected to coax, and power. The wireless router connected to cable modem and power. Your PC using wireless. so you need 1 cable coax connection, and two power connections and the cable between modem and router.

That's it.

 

[Mr. Smith]

Thats exactly it mate.

Old victorian house, plugs are at a premium! Finding 2 near eachother, near the coax bit is... It just won't happen! I guess I'll have to fit another socket which means me getting my hands dirty!

I was going to move the coax or feed the cable under the floor but lifting a floorboard last night there is max of 2 foot of space underfloor, too tight for my liking. I digress.

Router. Good one. Need.